Melody in A Dive
by EshtarWind
Summary: Between memories and reality. A song. Her song...


**Author's Note: Alright… So I have been playing this Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia game for quite a while… (The Save File said I've played it for 22:21 hours already) The battle system is not the best, I know (I slept once in the middle of the random battle! It's just too easy!!), but I kinda like the story… and I LOVE the songs there. SO MUCH. There's also this one character named Misha and in her China outfit she looks A LOT like TENTEN and her Cosmosphere song is WONDERFUL! So Chinese! And I think it's kinda fit Team Gai. If I had the chance, I'll add the link to download her song. (right now I can't. The internet is kinda sucks now.)**

**Diclaimer: I don't own anything… Not the song, nor the characters. The song later on is from Radical Dreamers: Nusumenai Houseki, Without Stealing the Jewel from Yasunori Mitsuda. The characters? Kishimoto, yo. Who else? Nyehehe.**

**--------------------------------------------**

**A Nejiten Fic**

**Melody in a Dive**

**-----------------------------------------------------**

_Behind the night there's a secret we never share out with anyone  
A small magic that we made together  
Fascinating  
Melody flowing over the sky tonight is our secret  
A small magic called love_

_**Sawashiro Miyuki: Chiisana Mahou**_

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She had always loved songs.

From the ethnic songs from the mainland where her family came from to the outer continents' songs. Ever since she was little, she loves to sing any kinds of songs. Her father always said that she had the voice of the golden bird. When she was little, she was so happy to hear it… but these days, she wondered what golden bird exactly was. Was there really any bird with that kind of name? Ah, anyway. It explained how beautiful her voice was for her father every time she sings.

She sings in every chance she had. She sings while she does her laundry… while she takes a bath… but she never sings while she trains. _Never_. Not in front of him.

He was not a man that was accustomed to songs.

He was a boy of total hollow, a machine in his own way. He strived inside life's hardship, endured more suffering than what he must have, and trained every day for his desires. He closed his eyes from the world and secluded himself inside his cell. He showed the world his opinion but hadn't a single care when the world showed him its own.

That how she thought about him… and that was right in some way.

He disliked a girl that was too girly and loves to giggle here and there. He hated girls that squeal and girls that surrender to men just because they are handsome in some way. He hated girls that are incapable of fighting for themselves and their duty. He disliked them. And she knew it.

_So she never sang in front of him. Just like how she never squealed for Sasuke or saying how Kakashi looks A LOT more gorgeous than Gai. Just like how she never cried or groaned whenever she got hurt by the enemy… or how she never stopped in the middle of their rigorous training. She shaped herself for him. Why? She never knew why, she just did. Naturally._

_And so he never heard her sing._

_She was afraid of him. She was afraid that he would hate her. That he would feel disgusted by her song. Meh. Even without the song… he never cared for her. Like usual._

"_Rokujyuuyon Sho!"_

_Smack!! Tenten closed her eyes in pain. She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to open her eyes and stand before Neji came and… Argh. Too late._

_Thuck! A sound of katana embedded itself on the tree trunk was heard. Tenten slowly opened her eyes, only to see the silver eyes of the Hyuuga prodigy. The boy pulled back, along with the katana._

"_That's all for tonight."_

_Tenten breathed raggedly after minutes of action, grimacing as she tried to steady herself. Neji was not a gentle sparring partner. She must endure it somehow._

_He chose her as his sparring partner after all._

_Tenten watched him as he walked away, recollecting her scattered weapon without her request for it. It was their ritual—they train and after the training Neji will help her collect her weapons then open her tenketsus again and after that? They will go their own way home with no words—not even goodnight or anything close to it. Their world was always found in silence…_

"_Ne… Neji."_

_Tenten was almost surprised to hear herself called him. She broke their ritual for tonight… but she just couldn't help it at all…_

"_Hn."_

_He answered. That was more surprising than anything else. Tenten gulped but she continued._

"_Do you know… what day is it today?"_

_Neji stopped his movement. His silver eyes glimmered._

"_Not a special day that I know of."_

_Tenten took a short, sharp breath. He didn't… remember… at all…_

"_S-Sou ka…" said Tenten slowly. She quickly picked up her scrolls and weapons, hastily took all the kunais in Neji's hand. "T-Thanks for helping me with the weapons! I… I think I gotta go home now and…"_

"_Why did you ask?"_

_She must've caught his attention by her change of behavior… but she got to go. Or else, Neji would see her…_

"_N-Nothing! J-just curious! Nothing special!" Tenten quickly jumped to a tree limb. She waved goodbye from her shoulder, didn't even turn back as she readied herself to jump. "G-Gotta go! Thanks for the night, Neji! J-Ja ne!!!!"_

_And she disappeared into the night, leaving Neji in the field alone—staring at the dark woods._

_X_

_**BAKA!!! Bakaaaaaaa!!!!!!**_

_Tenten leaped from tree limb to tree limb, trying to hold the tears of anger in her eyes. She carelessly hugged the scrolls and all her weapon in her arms, didn't even care about anything else except her (always) broken heart. He didn't remember… and there she was, expecting him to say something but…_

_**There's no way he will remember, Dumb Head…**_

_A voice in her head said it. _

_**Why would he know your birthday? He doesn't even care about you, Fool. **_

_He didn't even care about her. Right. When did he ever give her some flick of affection? Never. She was just a sparring partner for him. Period._

"_JERK!"_

_Tenten continued to shout as she leaped to her house's direction. She opened the door carelessly, storming into her bedroom—didn't even care about anything else. Not even her still closed tenketsus or her ripped clothes. Nothing…_

_And definitely not the forgotten kunai that was lying by the woods—right in front of the pale eyes of a prodigy._

X

She was a stubborn but nice girl.

She was not like any of those girls who were chasing Uchiha Sasuke like crazy or fangirling him for being such a prodigy in his age. She was an excellent sparring partner and someone who didn't care about his status. She ignored who he was… Or may even be the only person who knew who he was. He chose her as his sparring partner… He too didn't know why. He felt comfortable around her. Maybe that was why.

_But recently he thought about her more than merely sparring partner._

_To be honest to himself, she was his closest friend. She served him with loyalty and respect—something that he had always demanded from everyone around him. She didn't seem to care about anything else. She helped him and that is all…_

_But today she asked him more. And to tell you the truth… He knew exactly what she was talking about._

_Today was her birthday._

_But he didn't have anything to give._

_Isn't it better to let her forget it rather than to bring her nothing?_

_Perhaps she would just let it go._

_But no, she didn't let it go._

_Instead, she asked him personally. She asked what today was and… and he was torn. His answer was a fleeting statement… and he was inwardly shocked when he saw her reaction. Was she… running away from him? She ran from him as if hiding something and… _

_And there it was… a kunai, lying in front of him… Forgotten._

_Tenten never forgot her kunai before. Her weapons are as precious as her own life for her. And for her to forget that…_

_Neji slowly bent down and took the steel from the dampness of the night grass. The moon was shining on its tip… and he suddenly knew… that it was hard to mend something. And even harder if something you want to mend is the moonlight in your heart._

X

_**Osanai te ni tsutsunda  
furueteru sono hikari wo**  
_

The night breeze was whispering something… while the lake glimmered with moonlight and fireflies flew above the water. That pure voice in the night…

_**Kokomade tadottekita  
jikan no fuchi wo samayoi** _

X

**_Sagashi tzuzukete kitayo  
namae sae shiranaikeredo_**

_He stood still under her window, closing his eyes. He never knew she could sing…_

_He never knew… that her voice was such a beauty that he was… enchanted by it._

_His pale eyes looked at the window of her bedroom._

_There… he saw a goddess…_

_Who was singing to the pale moonlight, as if calling for her lover…_

**_Tada hitotsu no omoi wo  
anata ni tewatashitakute_**

X

**_Toki wa ai mo itami mo  
fukaku dakitome_**

Naked steels were scattered all over the plains… reflecting the beauty of the moon by its blazing edges—adding thousands of shimmering lights…

**_Keshite yukukedo watashi wa  
oboeteiru  
Zutto..._**

X

"_You forgot your kunai."_

_Her brown eyes widened. She quickly stopped singing, jumping to the roof in front of her balcony to see who was under her window. And there he was, looking right into her brown eyes—moonlight reflected by his pale orbs. He was holding her kunai in his left hand… and a white flower in his right._

**_Watashi no mune no oku ni  
itsukaraka hibiite ita..._**

A flower?

"_Gomen."_

_Her eyes widened._

G o m e n?

_He hesitated for a moment but he continued._

"_I remember… but I have nothing to give back then… so I pretend to forget it. I never knew that I would hurt you so badly like this. I hope this will make up for everything."_

_She… couldn't believe this… even as the flower was gently placed on her palm by himself who jumped to her roof. Quickly after placing the flower on her palm, he turned around._

**_Yotsuyu no shizuku yori mo  
kasukana sasayakidakedo_**

"_Happy Birthday."_

X

**_Itetsuku hoshi no yami e_**  
_**tsumugu inori ga**  
_

He had heard her sing…

A simple song in the night…

A pure voice floating gently to his ears…

She thought he would hate her.

She thought he would dislike her.

Singing is a girly attitude that she had been avoided for years… Maybe he wouldn't like her if she sings…

But she was a girl…

And he was a boy after all.

Even after they grew up… They still were, deep in their memories.

**_Tooi anata no sora ni  
todoku you ni..._**

His steps stopped right behind her. She titled her head to look at him, brown eyes reflecting the moonlight. Her bare feet were in the water, enjoying the cold feeling of the lake as she moved them gently according to her rhyme.

"What day is it today?"

What curved his lips was not a smirk… but a smile. A gentle one, that is. And it was there only for her.

"My birthday."

Her smile was as bright as how it always been. He crouched beside her then looked at her right into her eyes. The pale eyes shimmered and she knew what he wanted. Even before he huskily said…

"Sing for me."

And sang for him, she did.

**OWARI**


End file.
